Indiana To Appeal Gay Marriage Ruling

By
Carlos Santoscoy
Published:
May 09, 2014

The Indiana attorney general's office
said late Thursday that it would appeal a ruling ordering officials
to recognize the out-of-state marriage of a terminally ill lesbian.

Among the five couples challenging the
state's ban on gay marriage are Niki Quasney and Amy Sandler, who
have been together 13 years and married last year in Massachusetts.

Roughly a week after holding a hearing
in his Evansville chambers, U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young
extended a 28-day temporary restraining order forcing the state to
recognize the couple's marriage so that Quasney, who has stage 4
ovarian cancer, can be listed as married on her anticipated death
certificate and Sandler listed as her surviving spouse

In his 14-page order, Young suggested
that he was likely to rule in favor of the plaintiffs: “Currently,
all federal district court cases decided post-Windsor indicate
that Plaintiffs are likely to prevail.”

Indiana officials argued that
recognizing the couple's marriage before the case has been settled
could raise false hopes for other gay couples.